What's Next For Us
by Positron Weapon D
Summary: Not long after Darwin has returned to earth after a months-long journey home, Marie finds herself wondering what the nature of their relationship has become, and what she is to him. She asks him for his thoughts, even though she's fairly certain of what he's thinking. Darwin x Marie. Contains spoilers for Chaos Rings II.


The plan Marie had come up with was a simple one: catch Darwin in the act, before he got started doing what he'd been attempting to do for several days despite her insistence that he refrain.

Of course, she had to make it look like she wasn't waiting to bust him, because then, he wouldn't try to go against her advice, and she wouldn't be able to catch him. So, she picked a fairly nondescript activity: reading on the couch near the door that led to their extensive backyard, and the woods behind it that had served as an exploring ground during their childhood days.

It was hard not to let herself get too absorbed in reading, because she'd been wanting to finish up this particular novel for a while. However, with Darwin's return from nearly half a year of wandering the planet to come back home again, she didn't have a lot of time to simply relax, even though school wouldn't be starting up until fall. She had to stop herself from looking up as she heard a cautious footstep...yes, Darwin was going to try and sneak past her, there was no question about that. Even so, she needed to wait so that she could catch him red-handed. That way, he wouldn't be able to deny what he was up to. After a moment, she heard him take another step. He was trying so hard to be sneaky, she almost felt bad that she was going to have to catch him! She just told herself that this was for the greater good, for his well-being...

He took another careful step, and then another. Clearly, she had tricked him into thinking she wasn't noticing him, because he was getting bolder. She struggled to keep herself from looking up...it wouldn't be much longer before he got to where she suspected he was headed. She heard some rattling and a few hushed swears as he reached the back door, where he kept his practice blades. She finally allowed herself to look at him out of the corner of her eye, since he was busy trying to find one of his lighter blades. For a moment, she couldn't help but think about how thin he still looked from all of the time he'd been away. He certainly didn't seem to be in as bad of shape as he was when he first got back, but still, she couldn't let him get away with potentially reckless behavior!

As soon as he found the blade he was looking for, Marie quickly but quietly reached for the small, light staff she'd hid under the couch in preparation. It didn't allow for the usage of potent spells, but it had enough power to knock a light practice blade out of a hand that wasn't gripping it too tightly. With a brief but definite arm motion, she silently cast a weaker wind spell and sent it his way. She kept her eyes fixed on the hand holding the sword, and by the time Darwin realized there were eyes on him, it was too late for him to dodge the attack.

" _Ow!_ What in the hell?!" He hissed in slight pain as the magically created wind made contact with his hand, causing him to drop the practice blade to the floor.

He was still clutching his hand when Marie stood up and started to march over to him. His expression of discomfort, annoyance, and confusion quickly changed to one similar to that of a child who had just been caught after breaking something expensive or trying to sneak in some dessert before dinner.

"Uh, I-I can explain, Marie..." he stammered.

She stood in front of him with her arms crossed. "I'm almost tempted to let you explain, because I want to see what kind of ridiculous story you come up with!" She sighed. "What have I told you? More importantly, what has the Guard's head physician told you?!"

He looked off to the side. "That I still need to recuperate before I attempt any sort of intense exercise, including practicing swordplay. But...I mean, come on, Marie! I haven't been allowed to do anything even resembling my usual training for ages! I'm getting restless!"

"We've been over this..." she said. "You can't get back to training, and certainly not back to the Guard, until you're healthy again!" She looked up and into his eyes. "The doctor said you needed food and rest, and that we could take walks if you got too stir crazy. If you recall, though, the last time we tried going for a walk, you started wheezing just a few minutes into it! I don't want you to go out there and practice against a training dummy until you collapse..."

"I-I know...I'm sorry..." he murmured. He looked truly remorseful, and Marie smiled up at him.

"Let's sit down and talk for a while," she said, taking one of his hands. "That should help us pass the time. Maybe after dinner, we can try going for a walk again."

"Yeah...dinner," he said quietly. His face suddenly appeared to be that of a young man in deep thought, but Marie knew better.

She laughed softly. "Hungry again, huh? I'll go make you something first..."

"No, I'll do it," he said. "You've been taking care of me a lot lately, but I think I can manage making myself a snack...right?"

Marie sighed. He certainly could manage it on his own, and maybe that would take his mind off swordplay. "Okay, go ahead."

He darted off to the kitchen, and she smiled. He hadn't been able to eat properly in months before he got home, but even after weeks of finally having steady access to food again, his appetite still hadn't gone back to normal. M arie sat down on the couch, and she waited while Darwin made all kinds of noise in the kitchen. He was digging through doors, opening cupboards, and she could only imagine what he was up to.

"Make sure you're get something that's good for you too!" she called out to him. She couldn't understand his response at all, and she assumed that was because he was trying to eat and talk at the same time. "And don't talk with your mouth full! Jeez..."

"Okay, mom, I won't," he called back.

Marie pouted a little, even though she knew he was joking and that he did truly appreciate her concern. Still, she had to say something back to him.

"I'm not trying to mom you, Darwin! I'm just concerned about you because you're my..."

She trailed off, and her eyes widened for a second before her cheeks started to get warm. Right...what exactly did she call him now? They hadn't gone out on dates or made anything official or public, but around the house...well, they held hands, hugged, kissed, and occasionally exchanged affectionate words, but Marie had no idea what to call that! She'd never gone out with anyone before, because she'd only ever been seriously interested in Darwin...

He came back into the living room with a box of crackers tucked under his arm and a plum with one bite out of it in his hand. Seeing him after that series of thoughts had gone through her head made her jump slightly, and she averted her eyes as he sat down next to her.

"Huh? What's the matter, Marie?"

"Um...w-what do you mean?" Wow, that was an unconvincing performance...

"You won't look at me, and earlier, you were saying something but then you stopped." He sighed. "Is it because of that joke I made? I'm sorry...I didn't mean anything by it..."

His earnest apology caused her to turn and look at him. She didn't want him to think she was upset with him for something so trivial, especially since she wasn't upset at all.

"No! That didn't bother me at all, really," she said. "It's just that...w-well, I started thinking about..." She started blushing again, and she looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap. She had nearly calmed herself down again...but then, his arm made its way around her, and she began to get flustered all over again. It felt nice, of course, but...at this exact moment?!

"Well...if you don't want to talk about it, that's okay," he said, his voice sounding calm and understanding.

How on earth was she supposed to keep it to herself now? She couldn't. Besides, it was possible that he'd been wondering the exact same thing. She snuggled against him and gently took hold of the hand that wasn't wrapped around her before speaking. "I was wondering...o-our relationship...what would you call it? Or rather..." She looked up at him. "What exactly...am I...to you?"

He smiled. "Well, you're just as irreplaceable to me as before, if not more so, and I know I love you and you love me back...so I guess you're my..." He trailed off, just as Marie had done earlier. "My, uh..."

After that attempt to express his thoughts, he clammed up, and his face turned bright red. Marie sighed heavily. "See? Now you know how I was feeling! It's a new thing for the both of us, so...I don't really know!"

"A-Actually..." he said quietly, his cheeks still very pink. "I...I know what you are to me...at least, I think I do!" He held her hand a little more tightly. "It's embarrassing to say out loud, that's all..."

That piqued her interest. She felt as though she and Darwin could be described as a couple, but how did he feel? So, she asked him. "Can you try to say it, though?"

"Y-Yeah..." His voice seemed even quieter than before. "I...I'd say that what you are is...is my...my..."

He'd been avoiding eye contact that entire time, but he slowly turned his head and looked into her eyes, gray-green meeting vivid silver, and then he spoke.

"...My girlfriend..."

His face was bright red as he said those words, and Marie could feel hers turning just as red when she heard them. For a few seconds, they just stared at each other, unsure of what to say next.

Finally, Marie smiled, and she laughed softly despite her efforts not to. "Darwin, you..." She gently touched his cheek, which as she suspected, was much warmer than usual. "Generally speaking, you don't just... _decide_ that someone's your girlfriend! You should probably ask her first..."

He laughed awkwardly. "Oh, uh...yeah, that makes sense! So, uh..." He took a few deep breaths, obviously still a bit bashful about the whole thing. "Will you, then? Be my girlfriend, that is..."

It was funny...they'd known each other for so long, and they'd gone through so much together. A lot of the more recent things they'd experienced were more terrifying than most people could comprehend. And yet, Darwin seemed more frightened by this than by anything that had happened during the failed Rite of Resealing.

She smiled and gave him a brief kiss. "Of course I will, Darwin. Now quit looking so scared!" She exhaled snuggling up to him again. "Really now...you didn't show any fear when you went up against not one, but _two_ celestial beings! I'd like to think I'm much less terrifying than either of them..."

"Well, when someone pisses you off enough, you come pretty close..." She lightly punched his arm. "Ow...I'm joking, you know. But in all seriousness, I couldn't show any fear either of those times...because I had something to protect. Something very important..."

Her face flushed, knowing that he was talking about her, and she wrapped her arms around him. "Darwin..."

She stayed there for a moment, just enjoying being close to him. There were a few times that she felt him move around, but she didn't think anything of it...until she heard something that sounded like several crackers breaking in half. When she looked up at him, she saw that "several" didn't even begin to cover it. He'd stuffed as many of them into his mouth as he could fit!

"Sho'hy..." he said, his apologetic tone obvious despite his mouth being full.

Marie laughed as he started chewing his food with an embarrassed look on his face, and she waited for him to finish before kissing him on the cheek.

"Some boyfriend you are..." she said teasingly. "Talk about ruining the moment!"

He smiled, obviously picking up on the message Marie had intended to give him through her accusation: "I love you, and I'm happy."


End file.
